Steel sword with sheath, straight two-edged steel blade marked with a fox, handle with repoussé silver, wood sheath cased in leather with bands of repoussé and filigree silver with traces of gilt, Turkey, c.1700-1800.

SWORD. Straight, two edged, hardened steel, with handle of embossed silver of floral and whorl designs, knob at butt; sheath, wood cased with leather and cloth with two silver bands of repoussé and filigree work, originally gilt; blade marked with a fox. Turkish. L., including sheath and handle, 3 ft. 10 in. Bought (St. Maurice Collⁿ), 7l. 10s.

Description taken from ‘List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1884’. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1885. p. 94

Bought from the collection of Gaston de Saint-Maurice (1831-1905) in 1884. Saint-Maurice displayed his extensive art collection at the 1878 Paris exhibition, in a gallery entitled L'Egypte des Khalifes. This was part of an official sequence of displays celebrating the history of Egypt, presented by the Egyptian state at this international event. Saint-Maurice held a position at the Khedival court, and had lived in Cairo in 1868-1878. Following the exhibition, Saint-Maurice offered his collection for sale to the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A).

980&A-1884